Reconnecting with Nature -by Dale Hein

Building upon your earliest memories of nature can be a satisfying journey "back to the future".

Perhaps you slept in a tent at Scout camp and heard an owl hooting at constant intervals.  Maybe the tide washed away your sand castle , or the sun melted your snow sculpture.  Nature did not care.

Possibly you found a turtle, and brought it home.  You named it Simon and kept it in your bedroom.  When your dad said that it was time for Simon to hibernate you set Simon free in a pond.

More than half a century later, such early experiences in nature remain vivid to many of us.

While I was a professor of wildlife biology at Colorado State University, I often taught summer field courses in ecology and natural history. e.g. for Elderhostel (now Road Scholar), National Parks Conservation Association and National Wildlife Federation.  The participants were mostly retirees or seniors on vacation.  Often they were reconnecting with nature in ways they had first done as children.

So many times I heard, "Why, I remember that flower (or bird, or tree) on my grandparents' farm when I was little."

Or, "I remember we kept cocoons in our classroom until this same kind of butterfly emerged."

Don't you recall the first fish you caught, seashells you saved, or meteor showers you saw?

We usually have more discretionary time later in life, especially after retirement.  We may still be busy - but busy at what we choose.  One choice may be to discover new interests.  Rediscovering former interests can be even more satisfying.  Reconnecting to nature can be as simple as activating dormant childhood memories.

A mature dault has resources and abilities to explore nature that were limited in childhood.  It can be a time to revive and build on those early memories.  Now, a nature walk in woodlands, hills, stream-side, or fields can include nature photography, plant identification, bird watching, nature writing, and helping others learn.

Hopefully, as you grow as a naturalist, you will also become a conservationist, helping to preserve our vital natural world.

When we get to know more of nature, we can graduate to helping others, especially youths, to know nature better.  Too many children suffer from "nature deficiency disorder" in this increasingly technological world.

Year-round, free educational activities are available at 40 natural areas in Fort Collins (fcgov.com/natural areas), giving all of us, of any age, the opportunity to get in closer touch with nature.